Printing apparatus and method of preparing and using the same



p B. F. TERRY 2384,57

PRINTING APPARATUS AND METHODS OF PREPARING AND USING THE SAME FiledApril 30, 194].

4/ 4a 49 48 so 4/ -50 IN V EN TOR. BENNETT FI'TERRY flTTORNEY-i PatentedSept. 18,1945

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PRINTING APPARATUS AND METHOD OF PREPARINGAND USING THE SAME 4 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in printing apparatus and methodsof preparing and using the same, and is more particularly directedtoward the preparation photographically of mediums for printing withpigmented greasy inks, greasy transparent inks, and/or liquid dyes andstains.

According to this invention the surface of the photo-image functions asthe ink selecting and/ or difierentiating plane upon which the ink orstain is transferred from the ink or stain bearing member, and fromwhich said ink or stain is subsequently transferred to the medium uponwhich the image is printed.

The ink or stain bearing member may be a roller, a flat surface, astraight edge, or any other medium for spreading the ink over thesurface.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a plate or carrierhaving one surface thereof toothed, roughened or grained, and theapplication of a film of emulsion to this surface, thereby producing atoothed, roughened or grained surface on said film conforming to theconfiguration of the surface of said carrier.

Another object of the invention is the treatment of the film on saidplate or carrier after exposure, development and fixing, to a bleachingand tanning process so as to cause the portions of the image-bearingmetallic silver to shrink and harden and thereby form in said surfacedepressions below the normal level thereof.

A further object of the invention is to produce upon the above-describedplates or carriers, after the same have been so processed as to producethe requisite surface, negative images from negatives, and positiveimages from positives. In other words, it is one of my objects toproduce images on one plate or carrier directly from another plate orcarrier. This effect is enhanced by using photographic emulsion whosedigestion has been so manipulated as to produce easy reversal uponcontrolled original exposure. Such an emulsion reverses itself duringthe processing. Another means of reversal of the photographic image maybe realized by a subsequent controlled exposure after theflrst exposureduring processing.

It is another of the objects of this invention to produce direct copyimages by any suitable photo-reversal means on a toothed, roughened orgrained brom-silver or brom-iodo photographic film surface conforming tothe toothed, roughened or grained surface of a plate or carrier orflexible sheet, whether the same be rigid, flexible, fiat, or curved incharacter, for use in and with the greasy inkand/or stain printingmethods and processes to be hereinafter described.

Another object of the invention is the provision of means for producinga superior copy in greasy ink or liquid soluble stains, or asimultaneous selective combination of both regardless of whether theuser has had previous skill in the printing art or not. This means is asfully effective in the offset type of printing as it is by directprinting. Since this method eliminates the major portion of the timerequired for producing certain kinds of universally required copy, it istherefore more economical and expeditious.

In practicing my invention, full flexibility is realized and the copy isin no way limited to present methods; no electroplate is necessary, noris it necessary for any other type of professional work to be done onthe plate.

Since this invention employs a photographic image as the ink selectivesurface, the scope of the copy is equal to the range of subjects thatcan be photographed.

Copy from my method and process does not suffer by comparison with otherprinting processes, as the inked copy is made from the photo image.

Many attempts in the past have been made to reproduce copies in ink fromphotographic images with no very marked success either because more workand skill were involved than the results warranted or because it wasdifiicult to keep the copy clean. In many of these attempts, the imagewas destructible; whereas in my process the image remains clean andapparently is not harmed under reasonable conditions of use.

In lithography the photo-images are generally formed of a bichromategelatine or bichromate albumen' composition. These mediums are slow, andnot only require special and costly light sources, but also great skillon the part of'the operator is necessary. The action of the light uponthe bichromate coatings causes them to become insoluble, and theportions not acted upon by the light remain soluble. Developing consistsin washing out the soluble portions with hot water or by means of steam,and a great deal of skill is necessary. Therefore it lies well beyondthe average unskilled operators ability, knowledge or means, to usebichromate processes.

As my method is unfolded in the specification, it will be seen that theremoval of soluble portions by hot water or steam, as well as subsequentnecessary artificial roughening of the surfaces, are entirelyeliminated.

Referring to the drawing:

Figure l is a view of a backing sheet, to one surface of which has justbeen applied a coating of lacquer;

Figure 2 is a view of the backing sheet and lacquer of Figure 1 upon thesurface of which grains of suitable chemical crystals have beensprinkled;

Figure 3 is a view of the arrangement shown in Figure 2 after thelacquer has dried and after the salt has been dissolved and removed bymeans of water, or other suitable solvent;

Figure 4 is a view showing the plate of Figure 3 after the same has beencoated with a photographic emulsion;

Figure 5 is a view of the plate of Figure 4 after the same has beendeveloped, fixed, cleared and processed to convert it into anink-selecting and printing member;

Figure 6 is a view of a backing sheet or plate upon which lacquer issprayed in droplets;

Figure 7 is a view of the plate of Figure 6 after the photographicemulsion has been applied thereto;

Figure 8 is a view of the plate of Figure 7 after the same has beenexposed, developed, and processed to convert it into an ink-selectingand printing member;

Figure 9 is a view representing a sheet or plate, the upper surface ofwhich has been ground;

Figure 10 represents the plate of Figure 9 after a film of emulsion hasbeen applied thereto, the

upper surface of the emulsion conforming to the configuration of theground surface of the plate;

Figure 11 is a view showing the plate of Figure 10 after the same hasbeen exposed, developed, fixed and treated to form a printing plate;

Figure 12 is a cross sectional view of a screen carrying thephotographic emulsion;

Figure 13 is a view of the arrangement shown in Figure 12, after thesame has been exposed, developed, fixed and processed to harden theportions which contain the metallic silver; and

Figure 14 is a sectional view of the arrangement shown in Figure 13,wherein the depressions formed by the shrinking and hardening of thegelatine in the areas which contain the metallic silver contains greasyink, and wherein the water soluble dye or the like seeps through theunhardened surface of the emulsion. Two colors will be printed at oneoperation and in perfect registry with each other, one from the greasyink selecting portions of the image and the other from the surfacesthereabout.

Referring first to Figure 1, the backing plate 30 has a coating of amedium 3|, for example lacquer, applied to the surface thereof. Whilethis lacquer is still wet, a water soluble salt, or any other materialwhich is soluble in a medium which will not affect the medium 3|, forexample common salt (NaCl), is sprinkled on the surface. The saltbecomes embedded in the lacquer somewhat along the lines as indicated at3! in Figure 2.

It will be understood that where lacquer is used, the coating must bevery thin or it must be allowed to thicken before applying the salt,otherwise the lacquer might completely coat some of the salt and preventit from being dissolved out.

After the lacquer is dry, the plate 30 may be immersed in water todissolve the salt, and after the plate is washed and dried, the surfaceof the lacquer 3| has indentations or depressions 33 which were formedtherein by the salt. Of

course, Figures 1, 2 and 3 are greatly enlarged sectional views of theplate, and the surface of the lacquer will substantially resemble in itsphysical appearance a matt or ground glass like surface. It may exhibita reasonably wide range of toothed or grained surfaces between fine andfairly coarse and still work well in the printing mechanism. The baseemployed may be flexible, rigid, curved or flat.

After the steps shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3, the emulsion is applied andit forms a film 36 conforming to the toothed or grained surface of thelacquer 3|, as shown in Figure 4. When the emulsion is exposed,developed, fixed, and thoroughly washed, it is further processed toconvert it into an ink-selecting and printing member; or it may be driedand filed away for future use.

When it is to be used as a printing member, it is treated in a solutionincluding, for example, the following chemicals:

(1)Copper sulphate, 10% solution, 8 oz. (2)Potassium bromide, 10%solution, 8 oz. (3) Potassium bi-chromate, 20% solution, 2 oz.(U-Sulphuric acid, 10% solution, 20 drops.

(British Journal Photo. Almanac, 1938, pages 236, 237.)

In this bath the metal of the image undergoes a chemical change (duringthe clearing and fixing process after the emulsion was developed, theunexposed salts of the image were dissolved out by the action of thehypo-thiosulphate in the fixing bath).

In addition to changing the metal of the image, the solution also actsupon the gelatine where it finds the metallic image and produces asubstantial tanning and hardening effect on the gelatine. All portionsare tanned, hardened, and shrunk in proportion as to the relativecontent of the metal forming the image, thereby a relief image is formedon the plate. The plate may then be washed, and if it is desired to useit as a printing medium it may be mounted on the printing mechanismready for the application of a suitable ink repellent (of course, if theplate is not to be used for printing immediately, it may be suitablyfiled away for future use).

The repellent will be understod to be of a suitable composition havingthe following characteristics: It will have an absorption affinity withthe clear portions of the gelatine in converse relation with the amountof metal which was contained in the original photo image in any givenarea therein. It will maintain the image approximately indestructible bynormal printing uses.

I have used a number of different formulae as repellents, and hereingive by way of example, a well-known repellent which will perform thefunctions set forthabove:

7 Per cent Glycerine 10 Water A trace of acetic, phosphoric, or citricacid After the repellent has remained on the emulsion 9,884,857 that theabove relationships are much less critical in plates made in accordancewith my invention than is the case in plates made in accordance with theusual commercial lithographing process, and it would therefore appearthat my process and method may be comparable in case of operation tocommercial carbon-copy-on aluminum-plate printing systems so widely inuse at the present time.

The toothed, roughened or grained surface to which the emulsion adherescauses a substantially duplicate roughened surface on the emulsion'souter surface, due to the fact that the emulsion, when it is applied tosuch toothed, roughened or grained surfaces, conforms to theconfigurations of such surfaces. This is of great importance in myprocess as well as in lithographic processes, because it is well knownthat when fluids are applied to a highly polished smooth surface, theytend to gather in clumps; whereas with a toothed, roughened or grainedsurface the fluid applied thereto does not tend to pull together or formclumps, but instead spreads out upon such surfaces. This may be easilyproven by taking two pieces of glass-one having a ground surface, andthe other having a highly polished surface-and dropping a few drops ofwater on each piece of glass. It will be noted that on the polishedglass the water will gather in clumps or pools; but on the ground glassit will spread out into a thin layer.

Likewise, the toothed, roughened or grained surface causes an evenadsorption of the repellent to the selective repellent acceptingsurfaces, as opposed to the surfaces that bear the shrunken, tannedimage portions.

The shrunken, tanned portions readily exhibit to the eye a diiference insurface texture, as compared with the clearer portions, and thisdifierence is in proportional relationship thereto. The shrunken, tannedportions of the image exhibit a much smoother appearance than theunshrunken portions, and therefore said tanned portions oppose theabsorption and adsorption of the repellent and remain in a driercondition so that they readily accept the greasy ink, while thesurrounding portions having the repellent both within and upon thebodyof the freer gel atine, repel the greasy ink with great efficiency.Therefore, plates made according to my process, produce greasy ink copyof a very acceptable order.

I am not limited to the specific kind of emulsion used, and would pointout that I have obtained excellent results not only from regular softgradation emulsions, but also from emulsions of the types used inprocess work.

The example of forming a toothed, roughened or grained surface describedand illustrated in Figures 1 to 4, is above given by way of example asone way of forming such surfaces on a plate or carrier. However, I donot wish to be limited to this exact showing, as the herein describedinvention will work just as well on any surface which is equivalentlyroughened. The surface of the plate member or carrier may be ground, itmay be formed by dipping, flowing or spraying on a sub-coating adaptedto form a roughened surface; it may be etched mechanically orchemically, or the emulsion itself may be sprayed directly on to thecarrier in small droplets.

For example, in Figure 6 the carrier 35 may have the lacquer 36 spreadthereon in little droplets by holding the spray gun sufilciently faraway from the carrier that the spray of lacquer is partially set beforeit hits the surface of the lacquer or plate, thereby forming littledroplets. After the lacquer is dried, the emulsion 31 may be appliedthereto, as shown in Figure '7.

After the emulsion is dried, it may be exposed, developed, fixed,washed, and treated in the image tanning solution in the mannerpreviously described in connection with Figure 5, with the result thatthe efl'ect shown in Figure 8 is obtained wherein the portions 38, whichwere exposed and which did contain metallic silver, are shrunken belowthe normal surface 38 of the unexposed portions.

In Figure 9, the plate or carrier 43 is shown as having its uppersurface 44 ground; and in Figure 10 the ground surface 44 is coated withthe emulsion 45 which conforms to the ground surface of the plate. Theemulsion mentioned may be brom silver gelatine, chloro-brom silvergelatine, or in short any type of photographic emulsion in common usetoday, providing that it produces a well resolved image of good over-alldensity and contrast and that it will conform to the toothed, roughenedor grained surface of the plate, carrier or backing medium, and willexhibit on its outer surface the same configurations as those on thesurface of the plate or carrier to which it is adhered.

When the emulsion coated carrier, shown in Figure 10, is exposed,developed, fixed and sub- .iected to the tanning-shrinking bath, thedeveloped portions 46 are shrunken and hardened. :Eid thereby liebeneath the normal surface level In all of these forms, the surfaces aretreated with a repellent which is absorbed by the unshrunken and softersurfaces of the emulsion, and when afterwards used as printing plates,repel the greasy ink. However, the greasy ink does adhere to theshrunken and hardened portions which lie below the normal surface level,and when impressed upon the material to be printed A on, effects theprinting of matter identical with the exposed areas.-

In Figures 1 to 11, inclusive, the carrier or plate is shown as a film,a sheet of glass, or other non-magnetic material, or it may be ametallic sheet.

As a further modification of the invention, I contemplate the use of acarrier which is perforate or porous and in carrying out this inventionany material of this nature may be used, and by way of example, inFigure 12', the carrier takes the form of a fine screen or mesh 41 towhich the emulsion 48 is applied. The surface of the emulsion conformsgenerally to the configuration of the screen or mesh.

When the emulsion 48 is exposed, developed, fixed, washed and tanned,the exposed portions 49 are shrunken and hardened, and thereby liebeneath the normal surface level 4|, just as was the case in thearrangement shown in Figures 1 to 11 inclusive.

However, sinc the backing member is perforate and since the unexposedportions of the emulsion are softer and more porous than the hardenedportions 49, I have found that they will absorb and adsorb the repellenteven though it has incorporated therein a soluble dy or stain. Threpellent containing the dye or stain is left unchanged in its nature asa repellent and acts in the dual capacity as repellent and imageformingstain.

The greasy ink, of course, will adhere only to the shrunken portions 49of the surface which portions are non-absorbing and non-adsorbing withrespect to the repellent and/or dye, with the result that when the plateis inked and im-= pressed upon the material to receive the record, boththe image represented by the portions 49 carrying the greasy ink and thesurfaces carrying the repellent and the dye will print at the samemoment of contact in their respective colors; thereby I am able to printtwo colors simultaneously at one operation.

A further modification contemplates th formation of records fromphotographic images treated for the selective acceptance of greasy inkby using an emulsion receiving member or carrier on which the surface issubstantially fiat and having an overlay of small holes formed thereinin close formation throughout the entire area of said circuits.

After applying a film of photographic emulsion to this type of plate andproducing a developed image thereon, the surface of the emulsion willresemble th surface of the plate since there will be shrunken points inthe surface of the gelatine corresponding to the size and general shapesof the holes.

After processing the same in the manner hereinbefore described for inkselection, the shrunken portions will b hard and relatively smooth andwill'therefore not absorb, adsorb or transmit the repellent, and willtherefore only accept greasy ink, while the clear portions will transmitth repellent and/or stain.

With this arrangement, I find that it is practical to apply therepellent and/or dye from the back of the emulsion and transmit itthrough the relative freer liquid transmitting portions of the imag ingreater or smaller proportions as the photo-image contained more or lessmetal after development, clearing and fixing.

Obviously, a color may be incorporated in the repellent as outlinedabove to make it act as a printing medium over any areas not selected bythe greasy ink.

It must be understood that any of theabove described printing members,regardless of whether they have photographic images thereon or not, maybe used in the same manner as aluminum and other types of plates now inWide use on the market.

Plates made according to my process may be used at any time, unexposedor after exposure and processing for printing from the photographicimage, when additions may be made by means of a typewriter, greasy ink,or any other suitable means for adding matter to supplement the imagthereon, or it may be used as if it were simply a metallic plate orsurfaced for greasy ink and ink repellent.

It may be used unexposed, un-fixed, or it may when desired be fixed andhardened before use with non-photographic patterns, for example withcarbon typewriter ribbon or hand drawn patterns.

It will be obvious that this process and method contemplates theeconomical production of full color motion pictures and still full colorreproduction for projection by reflected or transmitted light or fornormal viewing by any of the above means.

Full color light transmitting images are produced using transparentgreasy inks while patterns for viewing in reflected light may use eitheropaque pigmented inks or transparent greasy colors on opaque supports.

In motion picture black and white and full color reproduction, thabove-described method and process possesses novelty and invention inthat the record is made by means of an ink printing instantaneously fromthe surface of one member to the surface of the other without imbibitionand the subsequent absorption of the liquid dye or stain in thereceiving member as is presently the case.

New and novel surfaces on the printing stock may be used as no gelatineor other liquid absorbing surface is required for the image-receivingmember. This allows of much more economical production with less skill,equipment and materials.

In full color reproduction the well known light filters must be used andthree color-filteredimages made, upon properly surfaced emulsion bearingmembers, as previously described. These members are processed to rendertanned images on the toothed, roughened 0r grained surfaces and theimages are printed over one another in proper registry in transparentgreasy ink or opaque greasy ink in conjunction with a repellent usedwith or without color, as also described in application Serial Number256,608, filed February 15, 1939, now U. S. Patent Number 2,273,7 l0,dated February 17, 1940.

In color motion picture reproduction, the images are registered from therequired number of continuous webs bearing images on the toothed,roughened or grained surfaces of the webs, having been exposed throughthe proper filters and processed for selectively accepting the severallycolored inks.

These images are then printed over one another in proper registry andprinted according to normal lithographic practice upon a single webwhich is used for projection viewing.

It is obvious that in all cases, where desirable, a half tone screen maybe used in taking or making the exposure, as now used in other printingprocesses.

It is a further object of this invention to afford a means of printingin greasy ink, by developing emulsion surfaces properly produced fromthe toothed surface of the emulsion bearing base, motion picture andsound track recorded photographically by well known methods presentlyused.

In my method, the tooth or grain does not interfere with resolution as Ihave produced images of sound tracks at about 900 lines per inch.

While the invention has been described in several preferred forms, I amnot limited to the precise procedure or chemical combinations given byway of example, as various modifications may be made without departingfrom the scope of the invention defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. The herein described method of producing a plate for ink and dyeprinting, which includes the step of providing a carrier with a toothedor grained surface, the further step of applying a thin film ofphoto-sensitive silver emulsion to said surface, whereby the outersurface of this emulsion substantially conforms to the tooth or grain onsaid carrier, the step of producing an image on said plate by exposureto light, the steps of developing, fixing, and washing said plate, andthe step of subjecting said developed and fixed plate to the action of atanning solution for hardening the developed image and making itreceptive to greasy ink, the unexposed portions of the plate beingadapted to receive and be uniformly.

Wet by aqueous repellents.

2. The herein described method of producing a plate for ink and/or dyeprinting which includes, the step of forming a toothed or grained layerfirmly adherent upon the surface of a carrier, the outer surface of saidlayer being capable of dispersing water or aqueous solutions, thefurther step of applying a thin film of photo-sensitive silver emulsionto outer surface of said layer, the outer surface of said film, due toits thinness, conforming to the tooth or grain on said carrier, and alsobeing adapted to disperse water and aqueous solutions, the step ofexposing said plate, the steps of developing, fixing, and washing saidplate, and the step of subjecting said developed, fixed, and washedplate to a tanning solution for rendering the developed image sensitiveto greasy ink.

3. In a printing device, in combination, a backing sheet carrying atoothed surface adapted to rapidly disperse water and aqueous solutionsand a thin, exposed, developed, fixed, tanned and washed film of silverhalide emulsion on said surface, the outer surface of said film beingselectively toothed in substantially inverse proportion to the strengthof the reduced silver image therein, whereby the unexposed portionsretain the properties of rapidly absorbing and adsorbing water andaqueous solutions and the exposed portions being selectively receptiveto greasy ink.

4. A method of producing a printin plate which includes the steps ofproviding a carrier having a toothed or grained surface and bearing athin film of photo-sensitive silver emulsion the outer surface of whichconforms to the configurations of said first surface, photographicallyimpressing a latent image in said surface, reversing said image by knownmeans and fixing and washing the same, and the step of tanning andwashing the film, whereby the latter may selectively retain its toothedor grained surface in substantially inverse proportion to the density ofsaid image.

BENNETT F. TERRY.

